Leadership development and human resource processes are two of the most talked about items in business circles today. Conversations include concerns around high attrition, low unemployment, operating in a 'hot' labour market, a shrinking workforce and the issues around training and development. The challenge for contractors is that often they are stretched for time and do not always have access to the resources needed to tackle these matters.
While there are many facets to this topic, there are a few that are critical to businesses – irrespective of size, industry or location.
- Laying the foundation – does your organisation have agreed and documented values that mean what they say, and say what they mean?
- Performance management – does every individual have clear goals in their role that are measured on a regular basis? Are there corresponding discussions around their success in meeting (or not!) those goals?
- Training and development – are you providing training either in the classroom or on the job which can help people learn and grow in their roles?
Values
Many organisations have values – the question really is whether these values mean something to employees and are laid out in behavioural terms. Values indicate to teams within the business what is expected of individuals, and they become real when people are managed with those values in mind. For example, your organisation may hold up teamwork as one of its values. Are employees disciplined when they clearly ignore teamwork in their daily activities? If so, values mean something; if not, they run the risk of becoming simply words on a piece of paper. In addition to managing by values, GE also considers them when hiring talent and managing non-performers out of the business. Are your prospective employees being interviewed so they align to the organisation's values? If not, you could find a cultural disconnect a few months on whereby your new recruit doesn't 'fit' with the team.
Performance management
A critical element of managing a dynamic people-focused organisation is ensuring ongoing dialogue on an individual's performance. This does not have to be complicated, but discussions on an (at least) annual basis about key achievements, strengths, development areas and future career desires are important. Through this process, clear goals can be set for the period and discussions held about what is working well and what isn't. This provides an open platform for leaders and their teams to move forward in achieving businesses goals.
Training and development
A targeted training plan can help your business achieve its goals. If some form of regular performance management is in place, the natural next step is to plan for the up skilling and training of individuals. Whether the training is done in-house or through the many available external providers will be determined by what the need is and what your organisation can offer in terms of training resources. Many small businesses can provide excellent internal skills training by leveraging the more experienced people within the teams.
By concentrating on these three key areas - strong organisational values, a regular rhythm around performance management and a focus on filling critical skill gaps – contractors can rapidly progress their overall leadership development and HR practices.